Tactical Breakdown: Salisbury 14, Cortland 10

Heading into Sunday’s DIII National Championship game, some people openly questioned whether Cortland could hang with Salisbury’s impressive talent, their perspective clearly influenced by memories of the Gulls’ 19-7 thrashing of Tufts in the 2011 final.

However, the Red Dragons' talent acquitted themselves quite well in a game that featured the two sides trading goals for the majority of the contest before Salisbury pulled away for good with a late run. Salisbury’s ability to beat back persistent attempts by Cortland to make a run didn’t come from being overwhelmingly talented, but from coaching adjustments that put Salisbury’s players in the best possible situation to utilize their talent. Through adjustments in three major facets of the game, the Gulls kept Cortland at arm’s-length throughout the day and captured the program’s 10th National Championship.

Offense: The Stages of Sam Bradman Going Supernova

The scene of the most compelling chess match of the game was the Salisbury offensive midfield against the Cortland defense. The opening move came from coach Beville of Cortland, who elected to double-pole the midfield combination of Sam Bradman and Ryan Clarke from the onset of the game. He brought up close defender C.J. Nye and put him on Clarke, leaving 2nd Team All-American LSM Jack Kennedy to cover Bradman. Beville had to like his odds of Kennedy at least slowing down Bradman a bit, but it was clear from the early moments of the game that this was not to be. Bradman torched Kennedy early and often, forcing Beville to adjust his strategy. He sent Nye back down low and tried to shut off Bradman with a short stick, hoping that this would stop the bleeding.

The counter to this from Salisbury coach Jim Berkman was masterful. Even before shutting off Bradman, Cortland had struggled to defend the pick and pop game from the Gulls, often ending up being forced into late switches that created dodging lanes and mismatches. With Bradman shut off, Berkman went to the ‘pick and pop’ over and over again with Bradman as the screener. This basic offensive action put the Cortland defense in a major bind. They had to choose to either fight through Bradman’s pick and maintain the shut off and matchup or to switch and risk Bradman getting open on the pop. Cortland typically chose to switch, which created numerous opportunities for Bradman to catch and dodge with his defender in poor position to defend his attack. This was a product of excellent screens set by Bradman, hard dodges and excellent decision-making by his teammates, as well as consistently poor execution by the Cortland defenders. The end result was six goals for Bradman and four between his linemates Clarke and Lantz Carter.

Of course, this wasn’t some sensational coaching move by Berkman to maximize inferior talent. This was a case of a coach knowing exactly what his best player excelled at and putting that player in a position to maximize his success employing those skills. As Berkman mentioned after the game, Bradman is an accomplished box player. In box, much of the game revolves around ball screens and playing off of that action. This is the exact tactic that Berkman identified as catering to Bradman’s skill set, and he wisely employed it to counter coach Beville’s attempts to slow down his star player.

Transition: Keeping Up With the Dragons

If there was one surprise in the championship game, it was Cortland generating a good chunk of their offense in transition. With Cortland’s half field offense not particularly productive, the Red Dragons leaned on their transition game to supplement their settled goal production. Their poles pushed the ball effectively in transition and Salisbury seemed to struggle to defend it, paying a price both for their mental lapses between the boxes and for a very aggressive ride early on. Seeing what was happening, Berkman called off the dogs on the ride and went to a less aggressive ride. By doing this, he allowed Cortland to clear the ball with relative ease, and they took advantage by having only one failed clear on the day. The benefit derived from this tradeoff was that Salisbury strangled Cortland’s transition offense, forcing them to score against a strong half field Salisbury defense. Here, the impressive aspect of Berkman’s coaching wasn’t the adjustment itself. Backing off on the ride to slow down an effective transition game is hardly breaking new ground as a coach. Instead, what was so impressive was the recognition that Berkman displayed in understanding that if he could cut off the production Cortland was getting in unsettled situations, he would starve their offense of goals enough so that Salisbury could go on a run like they did in the fourth quarter and Cortland would be unable to match it.

Defense: Playing With Legos

Defense isn’t as simple as putting your six best players on the field and telling them to go stop the other team. No matter how talented a defense is, determining matchups reigns supreme in defensive strategy. All the pieces have to fit together to stifle the other team’s offense, and nothing demonstrated this more clearly than Salisbury’s defensive efforts in the championship game. For a good portion of the game, Cortland’s Joe Slavik looked near-unstoppable, abusing Salisbury LSM Evan Hockel and doing much of the offensive initiation for Cortland. Pulling Hockel wasn’t really an option; he was a 3rd Team All-American this year and Salisbury obviously didn’t have a better player behind him. Instead, Berkman reassembled his defensive model with the same pieces, moving Hockel down to cover Cody Consul and bumping 1st Team All-American defenseman Andrew Sellers up to cover Slavik. Sellers, a former LSM himself, slowed down Slavik enough to put Salisbury in a position to win the game. Again, the adjustment was as subtle as it was significant. Berkman didn’t panic or switch personnel. He trusted his players, adjusted the situations he put them in, and came out a winner.

Salisbury 14, Cortland 10: Coaching Nirvana

It’s certainly no revelation that Jim Berkman is a great coach; the nine rings he had before Sunday attested to that. But it is noteworthy that in a year when so many thought Salisbury would simply outclass their opposition with overwhelming talent, the fate of the championship and Berkman’s tenth ring would be determined by superior coaching on the biggest stage in the game. When coach Berkman strolled into the press room, he was as he ever was, heaping credit upon his players and praising the other team. This magnanimous distribution of praise to others belied the simple truth that Salisbury emerged victorious due in a large part to a few deft and critical in-game adjustments to Cortland’s tactics. Salisbury and Cortland were both very talented teams; Salisbury’s athletes found themselves in a better position to make plays on Sunday thanks to the adjustments of coach Berkman.